Conveyer system



Sept. 11, 1934. C, ALLEN 1,972,969 CONVEYER SYSTEM Original Filed March 3. 1930' 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 //v1//v 70,2 ZAVQ/VT C. #4 4 EN 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 L. C. ALLEN CONVEYER SYSTEM Original Filed March 3, 193 0 Sept. 11, 1934.

L. C. ALLEN CONVEYER SXSTEM Sept. 11, 1934.

Original Filed March 3, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Sept. 11, 1934 3 ,1 UNITED STATES CONVEY ER SYSTEM Lavont C. Allen, Syracuse, N. Y.,-assignor to The Lamson Company, Syracuse, N. Y., a corporation of Massachusetts Original application March 3, 1930, Serial No. 432,636. Divided and this application March 9, 1931, Serial No. 521,079

11 Claims. (Cl. 198-24) This invention relates to an improvement in a vertical conveyer and more particularly in a continually moving conveyer in which, while the conveyer is traveling in one direction, the load is supplied thereto at one station and. in which, during the further travel of the conveyer in that direction, the load is delivered therefrom, one example of which is shown in the Jennings and Libby application Serial No. 432,666, filed March 3, 1930, and the instant application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 432,636, filed March 3, 1930.

One object of this invention is to provide a vertical conveyer comprising belts, chains or similar traveling means on which are supported suitably spaced carriers by which the loads are transported from one station to another during the upward travel of the conveyer and means for re- I moving the loads from the vertical conveyer to a delivery conveyer, the end of which is rigidly fixed against any movement relative to the vertical conveyer.

A further object of the invention is to provide, at the unloading station, mechanism comprising 'a delivery conveyer and an ejector which is operated in timed relation to the operation of the vertical conveyer and by which the load on the carriers is ejected onto the delivery conveyer, such delivery conveyer being characterized by having its end adjacent the vertical conveyer inclined downwardly so that the load may be ejected onto the delivery conveyer while the vertical conveyer is in operation without the necessity of shifting the end of the delivery conveyer in unison with the carrier.

Other objects will appear from a consideration of the following specification and the drawings which form a part thereof and in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of-a vertical conveyer equipped with unloading mechanisms constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged front elevation of the delivery conveyer which forms one part of the unloading mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the ejector which forms another part of the unloading mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of the ejector;

Fig. 5 is a sectional View taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a plan view, partially in section,.taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the ejector operating mechanism.

The apparatus as set forth in Fig. 1 comprises briefly a' vertical conveyer A in combination with loading mechanism at station B and unloading mechanism at station C. The conveyer A travels continually and both the loading and unloading operations take place during its upward movement, no such operations taking place during its downward movement. i

The vertical conveyer A consists .of two pairs of chains 11 and carriers 12 which are mounted upon each pair of chains 11. Only one carrier 12 is shown in Fig. 1,'but itwill be understood that there are a plurality of such carriers mounted upon each pair of chains. The conveyer travels'in awell 13 formed of suitable frame members and the chains 11 are supported upon sprocket wheels 15 and 16 carried upon transversely extending shafts 1'7 and 18 respectively. The shafts 1'7 at the top of the well 13 are here shown as driven shafts and the shafts 18 at the bottom of the well are drive shafts operated from any suitable source of power supplied to the stub shaft 19. On the shaft 19 is mounted a sprocket wheel 20 by which is driven a chain 21 which passes around sprocket wheels 22 on' the endsof the shafts 18. I The particular manner of driving the shafts 18 forms no part of the present invention and any suitable means for so doing maybe employed. The carriers 12 are flights each of which comprises an angle plate consisting of an upright portion 26 and. a horizontally extending portion 27 attached to the chains 11 in any suitable manner. The loads rest on the portions 2'7 in each of which is embedded a series of rollers 29 to eliminate any friction that might occur during the loading or unloading operations. The flights are so spaced upon the chains 11 that, during the upward travel thereof, the flights on one pair of chains are in horizontal planes with the flights on the other pair of chains and thus form carriers in which the loads are supported.

The mechanism at the unloading station 0 comprises a delivery conveyer 80 and an. ejector. 81 The delivery conveyer 80 (see Fig.2), comprises a belt 82 and a'pair of end rollers 85, 86, the roller 85 being mounted upon a suitably located platform 87 and the roller 86 upon a frame 88 pivotal-.- ly supported at one end upon the shaft 97015 the roller 85 and suspended at the other. end by hanger rods 89'from a crossbeam 90carried by uprights 91 of the wellframe. Therods 89 are adjustable to determine the relation'of the frame 88 to the well 13. Suitableguide walls 92 are provided at each side of the conveyer belt 82 being supported by straps on the frame 88 on which is roller 86 is inclined upwardly away from the ele-* vator well and at an angle to the downwardly inclined portion of the run between the roller and the roller 94. The lower run ofth'e'conveyer passes over a pair of idler "rollers and under a Weighted roll 96 which functions in the usual way to keep the upper run of the conveyertaut. Suitable means are providedby which conveyer :belt 82 is caused to travel continually with the upper run proceeding away from the well asshown by the arrow in Fig. 2. Such means are preferably .applied to the shaft 97 of the roller 85,- in any Qwell known manner. -.At the delivery end of the iconveyer 80'is mounted. a conveyer belt 100. passat :its fQrWarden-d arQund a-roller 101 betweenguide walls 102 which are secured to the guide walls 92 by straps 103 after the frame 88 ,has been positioned relative to the .well .13 by means-of the adjustable hanger rods 89. The frame 88 after being positioned is; se,cured to the frame of the well by} brackets (not shown) sothat the frameand conveyer-are rigidly fixed against transverse movement The-walls 92 -preferably vdivergeadjacent the well 13 asis shown in Fig. 6. ,The. ejector 81 comprisesa pairof arms rigidly mountedona shaft-111 supported insuitable-bearings 112 on the frame of the'well. The

arms llo are connected at their lower ends by a shaft 113 on which a roll ,114is mounted. A secondary connection 115 is also-provided in order to ensurethat the arms 110 are properly spaced. Mountedon the; shaft 111 betweenthe bearings l-l2iat therightin :Fig. 3 is an arm 1'20 Which-is ,connected by a-link 121130 a reciprocablerod 122. 'I'hefrod ,122 isadapted to slide in bearings 123 I mounted upon the frame of the-well. and carries .atsits upper end a roller 124, which atall times engages'a cam 125 carried by one of the shafts 1-7, as shown in Figs. 3 and-4; a Y

j.; 'I;he' rol1er 124; is mounted on a shaft 1-26supported in. abox 12.7 which is suitably secured to or.Inaikbeintegral with the rod 122. The box is epen at thetop' and opposite ends and isprovided with walls l28'intermediate andparallelto the sidewalls 129. :The shaft IZGissocarried by the .walls1128 that the roller 1,24-projects from the top of the :box (see-Fige). Mountedon stub shafts fca'r r i,.e.d.loyv the w ns 128 and 129 are rollers 130 which project. beyond the ends of the .box, as shown in Fig- 7. The rol1ers139 bear a ains guide strips 131 attached by brackets-.132 to the frameof thewell so'that the box 127 thus rides 'freely'and folljowsthe contour of'the cam125. For the purpose of ensuring the contact. of the roller 124 with the cam 125, there ismounted upon the shaft 111 between the bearings 112 at the leftin-Fig. a an arm l33'which carries a-Weight 134;- Th'e weight l34 'plustheweight of the ejector arm's 110*holdsthe vroller124 lat'all' times in engagement'with. the cam 125. I

"The .ycam 1251 :is so constructed and positioned that the-rod 122 will be depressed just at the time tha-txacarrier 12 reaches the position shown in Fig. 3. {The depression-of the rod 122by the cam 125-causesthearms lloto swing from the full line eo n- 9i, Fi n o-t otted line position The vertical conveyer A is set in motiontothereof and accordingly moves the load from the carrier onto the delivery conveyer 80. Due to the inclination of the inner end of the conveyer 80, the forward edge of the case D forming the load is. b ou h i t a m t with th end f t belt 82 as soon as it is shifted by the ejector arms 110 and as the arms continue 'to advance,'the case is moved up the incline by the arms and by the ...movement of the conveyer belt so that when the ejector arms have reached then final position the 85 case isentirely supported by the conveyer and is quickly carried out ofthe well so that it will not engage the carriers .12- traveling therein.

The conveyer A moves continuously and in order to avoid any'tendency of the chains 11 to retreat when:the ,loadis applied to the carrier I have providedlai pair of brake arms 135, which by the shafts. turn freely and-the ends-0f the armsxwhich-are suitably formedas shownv in Fig. 3 maintain their engagement with the chains. 100

gether with the loading mechanism at station B and the unloading mechanism'at station The cases D fed to the carriers 12 at stationB are raised thereby to station C. When each car @5 rier;1 2 arrives at station C, the ejector .81 ';iS actuated and any load thereon transferred onto the delivery conveyer '80. The conveyer belt .82 carries the load to the belt 100 by which 'it is transported to the desired destination. ,ilO

While oneembodiment of this invention has been described I amynot limited thereto; since other embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit-and scope of the invention as set forth inthe following claims. j I claim: r 5 1. The combination with a verticalconveyer adapted to receive a load at one-stationin its upward travel and to deliver the load at another station-during such upward travel and comprising 330 means vertically traveling in a well and carriers supported by such means andon. which the'load is transported, of mechanism. at the unloading station comprising load ejecting means, a delivery conveyer the "end of which adjacent the .well is inclined upwardly and fixed against movement onto which delivery conveyer the load is shifted by the ejecting means and a meansfor moving the load upwardly alongthe delivery conveyer away from the well. 1 v The combination with a vertical conveyer adapted-to receive a load at one station in its upward travel and to deliver the load at-another station duringsuch upward travel and comprising means vertically traveling in a Well and carriers supported by such means 'andon whichv the load is transported, ofmechanismat the unloading station" comprising load-ejecting means and a delivery conveyer including a frame the forward endof which is fixed in-relation to the Welland inclined upwardly onto whichend the load is shifted .by the ejecting means and ,means; for moving theload upwardly along the conveyer away from the well, the operation of theejecting means at the unloading station being continually in timed relation to the upward move ment of the vertically traveling means." 3. The combination with a vertical conveyer comprising means continuously traveling in a vertical well, mechanism for actuating said trav i5 0 eling means and carriers supported by such means for upward and downward travel in the well and on which loads are transported to an unloading station during the upward travel of the carriers of unloading means including an ejector at such station normally out of the path of carriers through the well and continually moved into the well by such mechanism in timed relation to the carriers, and a delivery conveyer including a fixed frame a traveling belt thereon and a means for so supporting the belt that it is movable in an inclined plane upwardly away from the well whereby the ejector will contact with the loads on any of the carriers and remove them therefrom out of the well onto the belt, said belt and ejector coacting to move the loads upwardly away from the well.

4. The combination with a vertical conveyer having load supporting carriers and means for moving said carriers upwardly and downwardly in a well, of mechanism for unloading such carriers during the upward movement thereof which mechanism comprises a fixed frame at one side of the well, a conveyer on said frame by the upper run of which loads are transported from the well, said conveyer being so supported on the frame that the portion of the upper run adjacent the well is at all times inclined upwardly away from the well, means for operating said conveyor and means for engaging the loads on the carriers and ejecting them from the well onto the conveyer, the leading edge of each load being received by the inclined portion of the upper run and moved upwardly in register with the carrier from which it is ejected.

5. The combination with a vertical conveyer having load supporting carriers and means for moving said carriers upwardly and downwardly in a well, of mechanism for unloading such carriers during the upward movement thereof which mechanism comprises a fixed frame at one side of the well, rollers on said frame, a conveyer belt supported by said rollers, means for driving said belt so that the upper run thereof transports loads away from the well, the roller on the frame nearest the well being in a plane below the next adjacent roller whereby the portion of the upper run between said rollers is at all times inclined upwardly and away from the well, and means for engaging the loads on the carriers and ejecting them onto the belt, the leading edge of each load being received by the inclined portion of the upper run and moved upwardly in register with the carrier from which it is ejected.

6. The combination with a vertical conveyer comprising means continuously traveling in a vertical well, mechanism for actuating said traveling means and carriers supported by such means and on which loads are transported to an unloading station, of unloading means including an ejector at such station normally out of the path of carriers through the well and continually moved into the well by such mechanism in timed' relation to the carriers and independent thereof said ejector comprising arms connected at one end, a shaft on which the other ends of the arms are rigidly mounted, a second arm on said shaft, a reciprocable rod, a link connecting said second arm and said rod, a roller carried by said rod, and a cam actuated by said mechanism and with which said roller is held in contact whereby said mechanism causes said ejector to contact with the loads on any of the carriers and remove them therefrom.

'7. The combination with a vertical conveyer comprising means continuously traveling in a. vertical well and carriers supported by such means for upward and. downward travel in the well and on which loads are transported to an unloading station during the upward travel of the carriers, of unloading mechanism including a delivery conveyer comprising a fixed frame, a belt thereon and means carried by the frame for so supporting the belt that the upper run thereof adjacent the conveyer well travels at all times upwardly and away from the well.

8. The combination with a vertical conveyer comprising means continuously traveling in a vertical well and carriers supported by such means for upward and downward travel in the' well and on which loads are transported to an unloading station during the upward travel of the carriers, of loading mechanism including a delivery conveyer comprising a fixed frame, a plurality of rollers thereon, a belt trained over the rollers, the rollers supporting the upper run being triangularly arranged so that the upper run travels at all times over said rollers away from the well upwardly and then outwardly and means for driving the belt.

9. The combination with a vertical conveyer comprising means continuously traveling in a vertical well and carriers supported by such means for upward and downward travel in the well and on which loads are transported to an unloading station during the upward travel of the carriers, of unloading mechanism including an ejector at such station, and a delivery conveyer including a fixed frame, a belt movable thereon and means for so supporting the belt that the upper run thereof travels upwardly away from the well, the ejector moving the loads on the carriers transversely thereof into contact with the belt while the carriers are in motion, and said belt and ejector coacting to remove the loads from the well.

10. The combination with a vertical conveyer comprising means continuously traveling in a vertical well and carriers supported by such means for upward and downward travel in the well andon which loads are transported to an unloading station during the upward travel of the carriers, of unloading mechanism including an ejector at such station, and a delivery conveyer incuding a fixed frame, a traveling belt thereon and means for so supporting the belt that it is movable in an inclined plane away from the well whereby the ejector will contact with the loads on the carriers and remove them therefrom out of the well onto the belt, said belt and ejector coacting to move the loads away from the well in the inclined plane.

11. The combination with a vertical conveyer comprising means continuously traveling in a vertical well and carriers supported by such means for upward and downward travel in the well and on which loads are transported to an unloading station during the upward travel of the carriers, of unloading mechanism including an ejector at such station, and a delivery conveyer including a fixed frame, rollers mounted therein, a belt trained over the rollers, the rollers supporting the upper run thereof so that the belt travels away from the well first upwardly at an angle thereto and then outwardly and means for driving the belt.

LAVONT C. ALLEN. 

